A woman shared on social media that her grandfather had given all of her grandmother’s jewelry to his new wife, and the internet is outraged.
Olivia Joan shared in a video that she was on a flight to visit her 95-year-old grandfather in Chicago to meet his new wife, aged 76. Upon arriving, she learned that her grandfather had gifted all of her late grandmother’s jewelry, including a Cartier necklace, to his wife.
The NYC-based photographer has more than 75,000 followers on TikTok, where she’s gone viral for previously showcasing her grandmother’s wardrobe, including Prada and Christian Louboutin. In a recent interview with Vogue, Olivia Joan explained that her grandmother Joan Johnson, who died in 2019, was the founder of a successful Black-owned cosmetics company, Johnson Products.
Joan posted the video to her Twitter and TikTok accounts, gaining more than 800,000 views across both platforms.
“My grandfather gave the rest of my grandmother’s things to The RealReal, and also all of my grandmother’s jewelry to [his wife],” she said in the clip. “Which is unfortunate because I really wanted this Cartier necklace that I went to Cartier to purchase with my grandmother in 2017, and now this woman has it.”
Joan said the necklace meant a lot to her because it was the only piece of jewelry she ever bought with her grandmother, along with the matching ring and bracelet that was gifted to her grandmother for their anniversary. Now, it belongs to his new wife.
“So much in this apartment has moved and changed and I got into a really big fight with my grandfather so I’m leaving early,” Joan said, noting that their family photos were taken down in the apartment as well. “Yeah, it really sucks.”
The internet was up in arms over her grandfather’s new wife keeping his late wife’s belongings, and agreed in the comments section that her jewelry and clothing should be passed down to her relatives.
“Keeping all of your grandmother’s jewelry says a lot about her character,” commented a user on TikTok. “She should have let you pick out something from the collection. This is hard.”
Joan replied: “And the worst part is she wears my grandmother’s jewelry in front of us!”
One person told the photographer to simply ask for her grandmother’s jewelry, but Joan said that she’s already asked to no avail. She even revealed that the new wife has it all locked in a safe “as though she knows”.
“Anyone who has had a wonderful grandma can understand,” said one person. “It is not really about the necklace, it’s about a memory of your grandma.”
“But that’s not right, gifting a new wife with a late wife’s belongings,” another user wrote. “Everything should’ve been given to you and your mom. Healing and peace to you all.”
“Your grandpa is sweet and adorable, unfortunately he’s being taken advantage of because he’s heartbroken about losing your grandma,” suggested a TikTok user, to which Joan “completely” agreed.
One day after the video was posted, Joan provided an update to her TikTok followers.
“UPDATE: My grandfather and Madeline gave me the necklace back,” she said.
